Andrew Sullivan: Beastweek, the last hope for magazines

The outcome of the fusion of the successful Daily Beast website with the ailing weekly Newsweek could decide the fate of an industry

And what rough beast, its hour come at last, slouches towards us? A merger of
a news magazine in rigor mortis (Newsweek) and an infant website that has
only carried advertising at all in the past year (The Daily Beast) is
certainly an odd omen for a media revolution.

It was instantly dubbed Beastweek (with the implication of a strange and
unnatural coupling) and its emergence is either a) a sign that the new media
will reorient print magazines and attach them to vibrant websites and
thereby save them, or b) proof that the entire financial model for
newspapers and magazines truly is kaput.

In media matters, I have long come to the Private Frazer conclusion that
financial disaster is the likeliest conclusion: “We’re doomed!” But it would
be hard to come up with a more interesting way to find out if that’s true
than by observing an experienced editor